Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The present invention relates to tamper-evident seals, in particular to U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,673 to Olshausen (2000) and to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/602,337, filed as a continuation in part to U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,673 on Jun. 24, 2000 which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,539. However, the present application is not a continuation in part of either one of those prior filings.
Tamper-evident seals attach to most objects usually with a bit of difficulty and often rather unaesthetically. Typically, a pair of apertures must be provided, one on each of two movable parts of the object, through which a seal can be passed. Eye-bolts sometimes are welded onto the parts, or, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,401,965 to Rossiter (1946) the parts may come manufactured with built-in apertures. Often, as with Rossiter""s part 15, some element of the seal-related mechanism will stick out maybe an inch or two from the adjacent, flat surfaces, just enough to rip a shirt on when the door to the sealable compartment is left open. A great many, thin-walled objects, such as the glass of a cabinet or the sheet-metal of a locker, are not particularly suited to the support of protruding elements, which, should they get whacked, and everything does get whacked eventually, can exert on the thin-walled material a strong-enough, sudden stress or torque to bend or shatter it. Locker handles typically do have apertures for the hasp of a lock, but, if a lock is already in use, not much room remains for the additional insertion of a tamper-evident seal.
Neither U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,673 nor U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,539 specifically addresses the thin-wall problem. Basically each requires some ancillary object, a chain link, a staple, which in turn must be screwed or glued or riveted or welded or somehow otherwise battened onto an object, in order to be attached.
And then there is also the motive thing. Most tamper-evident seals, including those of U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,673 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,539, basically are intended to keep people from indulging their, perhaps we should say, momentary baser instincts to pry or pilfer. The use of such seals does not arise from a sanguine view of humanity. A less adversarial point of departure is arguably represented by the tamper-evident, container seal in U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,087 to Kusz (1987). In Kusz, the stranger of the greatest importance is not the miscreant but rather the customer, the authorized user, authorized usually in virtue of a purchase. Deterrence, to be sure, remains important but with the understanding that the relatively few, serious attempts to do damage will likely weigh less before the bar of public opinion than a product""s quality and its manufacturer""s due diligence in protecting that quality. To the customer the seal says we""ve thought of you, this is a fresh product, you can take this.
There are, it""s true, times and circumstances in which a message needs to be sent, but in which, nevertheless, a light touch is desirable. Maybe Ann has forgotten to pay her dues for a time at a swim club, but she still uses it. The stock market""s been bad and so on, money""s been tight. The swim club wants to keep her as a member very much, but it also needs to have its dues paid. So, it attaches an easily-broken, tamper-evident seal to her locker. She can still stow her stuff and use the pool, but now she has been tactfully, although clearly, reminded of an arrear and of fraying patience.
The present invention aims to serve and to preserve these more user-friendly, customer-first sort of options. In particular, it provides an easily-severable, tamper-evident seal having dual, independent catches, each adapted for easy attachment to a thin walled-container. It provides, in addition, a structurally essential, tear-off ID tag, which may be used, for example, to redeem a premium, such as a room-discount at a hotel.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,673 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 6.371,539, both op. cit., as well as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,885 to Netto (1998), perforations attach an ID tag to the main body of a seal. For all of these devices, however, mere removal of the ID tag does not render the device unusable. Tag removal in U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,673 is necessary to allow the seal element to pass through and out of either catch element. But, if a seal element that already had had its tag removed were to be found, say in a bag of 100, it could still be used as a seal. In none of these reference does the tag function to guarantee the structural integrity of the seal.
The present invention makes the tag a guarantor of seal integrity by splitting the seal, apart from the tag, into two, generally symmetric, xe2x80x9chalvesxe2x80x9d joined only by the tag and contiguous separation means. If the tag is fully removed, either end of the seal may now be passed through the catch with which it has been in locking engagement without the need to sever from the seal either of the seal""s studs, or, as the case may be, the seal""s linear ratchets, by force. The tag need not even be fully removed to open the seal-protected container. It""s enough just to free up one of the seals xe2x80x9chalvesxe2x80x9d.
The present invention furthermore takes the concept of dual, independent catches found U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,673 and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,539 and reinvents it for use in a thin-walled setting. The result is a variety of plug-like objects, each bearing a catch and each specifically adapted either to self-anchor into an aperture or to be mechanically anchored from behind an aperture. Inasmuch as the apertures will often have front surfaces lying in substantially the same plane, the catches will often face in the same direction, so that the seal has to be bendable.
A means is presented for optimizing perforation design by concentrating tear-off force at an acutely angled junction of a given perforation tooth with the tooth""s adjacent half-midsection of the seal. An alternative separation means is presented, not involving perforation teeth, that simultaneously reinforces the integrity of the tag-to-seal-half-midsection link while also making easy tearing off the ID-tag. This alternative separation means is among the simplest for which to build a mold, and thus marginally reduces mold costs.
With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a tamper-evident seal for thin-walled containers that is both easily attached and easily removed with a minimum of force.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide for easy replacement and/or repair of the seal""s catch elements.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide for easy bending of the seal element in order to engage catch elements both facing in the same direction.
It is still a further object of the present invention to be adaptable to a variety of wall thicknesses and orientations.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a tag that may be easily removed and used to serve some commercial purpose.
These and yet further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following, detailed specification, drawings, and appended claims.